Project Director II –Global South– Education Workforce Initiative (EWI)

Company Description

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

EDC is one of the world’s leading nonprofit research and development firms. EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic opportunity worldwide. Collaborating with both public and private partners, we strive for a world where all people are empowered to live healthy, productive lives.

EDC’s approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion is grounded in EDC’s commitment to respect the dignity of each individual. EDC has a commitment to promoting equity and access to high quality education and health services that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. EDC expresses its commitment to increasing equity through its strategies, services and products, which contribute to building capacity and transforming lives.

Job Description

The Learning Generation Initiative – formerly the Education Commission – sits as a team within EDC’s International Development Division. The Education Commission was convened by a multilateral coalition in 2015 and served as a global initiative encouraging greater progress on Sustainable Development Goal 4 – ensuring inclusive and quality education and promoting lifelong learning for all. The Commission helped create a pathway for reform and increased investment in education by mobilizing strong evidence and analysis while engaging with world leaders, policymakers, and researchers. The legacy of the Commission’s work has been taken up by Education Development Center under the Learning Generation Initiative which will continue the Commission’s agenda. The education workforce remains a key focus area.

The Education Workforce Initiative (EWI) was established in 2017 to catalyze new thinking and concrete actions to transform the education workforce. It recognizes that harnessing teachers and the broader education workforce is vital for transformation and ensuring inclusive, equitable, quality education for all — they are an education system’s biggest investment and one of its greatest levers for change. Our goal is for countries to expand, strengthen, and diversify the education workforce and empower it to work collaboratively towards learning goals. EWI produced the flagship Transforming the Education Workforce Report  in 2019 which laid out our vision, and we have been working with countries - such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Rwanda - to translate this vision and research into action. We analyze, test, and aim to facilitate accelerated progress in three priority areas: improving the supply and low quality of teaching in disadvantaged areas; new learning team models for a more child-centered, cross-sectoral and collaborative education workforce; and improved school and system leadership.

The Learning Generation Initiative is looking for a lead (Project Director II) for the Education Workforce Initiative. The ideal candidate will be based in the global South or near one of EDC’s offices in the US - Washington, DC or Waltham.

This position is 60-80% FTE/ 3 days a week, with some flexibility.

You will:

• Direct diverse programs/ projects that involve research, country work and communications and advocacy with strategic impact
  • Direct project, program or development teams in planning for proposal submissions, project performance, and adherence to schedules, resource requirements, and quality standards 
• Oversee
  • management of current EWI projects, ensuring all aspects of the projects are delivered on time, to budget and are of highest quality – these range from research projects to technical support in countries to developing and disseminating research and working with countries to translate it into action.
  • development and implementation of the EWI strategy together with the team and measure and monitor its impact. This will include developing and implementing new projects and programs of work to expand the education workforce portfolio
• Maintain effective relationships with current funders, meet reporting requirements and develop relationships with new and potential funders, and develop proposals
• Create a network of champions to communicate and advocate for investment in the education workforce (underpinned by evidence-based approaches).
• Actively look for, establish, and manage strategic partnerships and collaborations especially those with the global South.
• Actively engage with global, regional and national stakeholders to share our work, undertaking evidence-based influence, and contributing to global public goods and working groups that further our objectives.
• Represent the initiative at key global meetings, events and academ